What is the Definition of Karma? How does Karma Work?
This is a great question and one that I try to answer in the next four pages. I give valid examples of how you can incorporate the principles of karma into your business and life.
The Four Laws of Karma
The First Law of Karma - If you want positive results in your business and life, you need to cause others to have positive results.
The Second Law of Karma - To make up for bad karma, you don't need to be Ghandi or Mother Theresa. Just have nice thoughts and do simple acts.
The Third Law of Karma - If you never do good things, you'll never have good things done to you.
The Fourth Law of Karma - All the mean, self-serving things you do will come back to get you. Even if nobody witnesses them.
The First Law of Karma
This is an article about the First Law of Karma and how to use it for your life and business.
Do you know what karma is and how it works? Most of us have a loose understanding. What goes around, comes around. Right?
Results are similar to the cause. Simply said, when I cause other people harm, I will harvest suffering myself. It is important to note here, that "positive" actions are defined as actions that have happiness as a result; "negative" actions are defined as actions that lead to suffering as a result.
This is so simple yet the implications are so vast. If you want to have "positive" results in your life, you need to cause others to have "positive" results. There is a slight caveat to the above and to use the same logic statement, it would be refined to say:
If you want to have "positive" results in your life, you need to intend to cause others to have positive results. In the world of Karma, your intention to do good is what counts. The actual result is almost irrelevant.
For example, if you
intend to help someone, perform a simple act such as opening the door for him/her, and as a result, he/she snipes at you saying "I can do it myself", you can consider that you have just made a deposit in your karma bank account. You intended to do well. Unfortunately, the good intentioned act was not well received. There is not much you can do about that once the full sequence of events has played out.
Just make sure you don't call them a jerk under your breath as you walk away. That would cause you to lose the deposit you just made and likely bring you back to the a), b), c) scenario you just experienced sometime in the near future.
Also notice that when you walk away calling the person you intended to help a jerk, it doesn't matter if he/she notices. The karma is still being generated. Cool eh? Tips for Incorporating the First Law of Karma into your Life
So how can you apply the first law of karma most effectively? The answer is simple. Ask yourself what you want most and then on a daily basis, write the 3 best things you did to help others get what you want and the 3 worst things you did that caused others to not get what you want. Take two minutes at the end of your day. Just observe it. Be aware. Don't make yourself wrong for the bad things. Start today because the more you start to apply this law, the more everyone else benefits. That's the beauty of it! I've been doing this for 30 days now and somehow, the universe appears to be conspiring to help me get what I want and present to me opportunities to help others get what they want. Feel free to pass this along to anyone you feel might get some good karma from my words.
The Second Law of Karma
The second law of karma puts a little urgency into doing good. But first, lets see how you did with the first law of karma. Did you create good karma by creating the intention to do good to others? Did you notice this law in action in your life? Did you catch yourself cussing under your breath at someone who cut you off? I hope so because I am visualizing the ripple effect of good karma extending from me to you to others and so on. Now onto the second law of karma. In my own words according to my interpretations it could be stated to be the following: The strength of karma expands over time. That’s it. Pretty simple. But again, the implications can be huge, both good and bad. The Bad News about the Second Law of Karma
First, the bad news is that if you produce a bad thought or action and then let it linger on your mind for a long time, the karma expands so that when it eventually ripens, it will be worse. It’s like your subconscious knows you produced bad karma and it won’t forget it until you make up for it.
So if you curse the person that you intended to help, in the example from last month, the act of cursing them will be on your subconscious until the bad karma comes back to you. Maybe the next day, as you enter the building, someone will fail to hold a door open for you.
Or if it weighs on your subconscious longer, maybe a month later, someone will slam a door in your face. To avoid the door slamming in your face, you need to make up for it.
The Good News about the Second Law of Karma
This is where the good news comes into play. To make up for the bad karma, you don’t need to be Ghandi or Mother Theresa. Just have nice thoughts and do simple acts.
If you cussed someone under your breath, make a point of saying thank you the next time someone lets you on the elevator before them. Or if you notice someone’s new outfit, tell them they look nice.
If you do this diligently for a while, someone will eventually ask you to join them in a business venture or invite you to their cabin in the Swiss Alps. If you do this every day for the next 10 or 50 years, someone may eventually ask you to make a video of your life or write a book about you. Isn’t that what Ghandi and Mother Theresa did?
All this because the good karma that you create will expand over time, thanks to the second law of karma. Tips for Incorporating the Second Law of Karma into your Business & Life
Remember the homework from the First Law of Karma ? Ask yourself what you want most and then on a daily basis, write the 3 best things you did to help others get what you want and the 3 worst things you did that caused others to not get what you want.
Now add another component to the exercise and write one or two “to do” items to make up for the 3 worst things you did.
If you were cheap and didn't offer to pay for lunch while networking with a potential client, make a point of buying donuts or coffee for the office. If you told a little white lie, make a point of being especially honest for half a day. If you were late for a meeting, make a point of going to your next one early.
Make the “to do” simple and make sure you can do it within the day. Don’t forget to do it because you don’t want to be a liar. The Results of the Second Law of Karma can be Amazing
From a personal perspective, this homework makes me very mindful of my actions. I still cuss under my breath and even fail to do the “to do’s” sometimes but it’s like I rectify it right away. And ultimately, my subconscious feels better and in a couple cases, I have made people’s days. I wrote a quick letter to an old professor that I hold in high regard saying thank you for the teachings and his response was:
many thanks for taking the time and spending the effort to make my day as you did ... I will keep your letter for review when things aren’t going so well.”
Wow, he’s a professor, doesn’t he require something more than a simple thank you to make his day? I guess not. And to think he may re-read the letter and produce the good karma again. I never thought that would happen. Have a wonderful day. Make a ripple and watch it turn into a wave!
The Third Law of Karma
If you never do good things, you’ll never have good things done to you. Or at least you’ll never experience them. Imagine if you were a jerk every day of your life. After a while, there would never be a nice person in your world. Obviously those people are around but you would fail to see them. That is because the world isn’t “out there” as something you simply witness.
According to this law, you are the originator of what you experience. Just think about it. If the world were the way you see it, everyone would see it the same way. But nobody sees the same experience the same way.
The Third Law of Karma in Action
This month, I have observed this law by observing my thoughts and feelings. I have also observed how others interact with their thoughts and feelings, wanting to keep the good ones and get rid of the bad ones.
The trouble with that is that you do not control your thoughts and feelings in the moment that they are occurring. Stop. Think about that for a second...you do not control your thoughts the moment they arrive.
You can control your reaction to the thoughts and feelings, but that’s all. Once the thought or feeling is had, it’s too late. It’s there due to some karmic activity in the past.
For example...
Let’s say you are driving on the highway, someone cuts you off, and you get angry. You have no control over the anger. It happens so fast. It happens because you caused someone else to be angry in the past.
The good thing is you can control the reaction to the anger. If you have the wisdom to notice the anger and let it dissipate without cursing or flipping the bird, eventually, the feeling of anger will go away when you encounter the same situation. And then you won’t even experience the experience of being "cut off". That’s the power of the third law of karma.
Tips for Applying the Third Law of Karma
Your homework for the month to deepen your understanding of the third law of karma is to simply notice your thoughts and feelings. Also notice how they change. Notice that they aren’t a function of your environment. If they were, everyone would have the same thoughts and feelings.
When you have a good thought, consider that you have a good thought because you caused others to have good thoughts. If you have a bad thought, consider that you have caused others to have bad thoughts. Don’t make yourself wrong for it, just notice and make a point of helping others get what you want. It will change your life. It’s no big deal. So start now. Count Your Stones
In ancient times (although I'm sure it's still happening in some parts of the world), the old farmers would carry white and black stones in one of their pockets.
Every time they had a good thought they transferred a white stone and every time they had a bad thought they transferred a black stone to a different pocket. At the end of the day, they could do a simple accounting of the white and black stones.
Most people quickly learned that they had far more black stones than white stones.
That which you can measure, you can change. What other tools or structures can you use to measure the quality of your thoughts? Be creative, there are many solutions.
Please pass this along to anybody you think might benefit from some good karma.
The next time you experience a jerk in your life, try not to react. Take a deep breath and let the anger and frustration pass. It always does.
Interesting side note: I was reading about some old meditation gurus and it stated that not reacting when someone is pushing your buttons, I mean really pushing your buttons, is more difficult and more powerful for creating good karma than meditating for 5 years in a cave.
Then remind yourself that the jerk will suffer for his/her wrong-doings. You may even feel contented or somewhat righteous by this. But to really make a difference, feel for the other person. Know that he will suffer. Know that he is creating bad karma that will come back to him. Know that he is simply reacting to his circumstances, which is the opposite of what I am urging you to do.
Do this once every day. Feel for the jerk. And if you get caught up in the moment and react, forgive yourself and feel for the other person afterwards. The more you do this, the less you will experience jerks. Your compassion will help others so they don't need to get upset and take it out on you. It's preventative.
Remind yourself by writing it down or giving away a dollar every time you feel for someone who has created bad karma in your life. Or, transfer a stone from one pocket to the other as a reward (as described in the tips from the Third Law of Karma ). Do whatever works for you. And keep passing along the good karma.
Karma is like the salt and pepper shakers at a huge dinner table. Pass it along!
